Sunday, August 10, 2008

New School Year!!

Woo Hoo! I went back to work, grudgingly, on Friday. With everything going on at the house, it's hard to pull myself away (even tho' you'd think I'd want to by now!). It's okay though, because after 8 years of being at the same school, I've finally decided to move on!

I was very nervous about starting over again. Luckily, my BFF/partner in crime, T, was coming with me. This whole thing was her idea, she twisted my arm. Another friend of ours had started at this school last year, so she kept putting the bug in our ears. T and I took her advice, interviewed together, and were hired on the spot. So, at least I know two other people in the building!

The school is only two years old so everything is brand new. It is absolutely huge compared to my last school. The resources that they have are to die for and everything is SO organized! I wont even get started about everything their PTA does (or the fact that their PTA even has their own room to work out of)! We came from a Title I school which means that the majority of our students were on free/reduced lunch, very low socio-economically. We got extra funding for more support personell and also resources. But still, this new school has just as much, if not more. Our old school had a handfull of parents that were involved. PTA was litterally like 6 parents (that might be pushing it!). So this is a huge change for us. A welcoming change, as you can imagine.

T and I eased right in with our teammates. They are all about our age and they're funny! Our team was giggling and making jokes throughout our 3 1/2 hour meeting Friday. I loved it. We didn't feel uncomfortable. We didn't feel like we don't belong. It was simply wonderful.

I did feel behind tho' because most teachers had been in during the summer to work on their rooms. This was my very first day back and I was feeling the pressure. I still had to unpack all of my boxes that I brought from the last school. So, I spent my few meetingless hours unpacking and organizing. Then I ran into a problem. I realized all my boxes were empty and I was still missing many things~ crayons, markers, hole punchers, drawer tray organizer, a large 3 drawer roller cart! Uh-Oh! Panic mode. We looked everywhere and just couldn't find it. Luckily this school is so stocked w/ supplies that all I have to do is ask. But still, I'd like to find my things. I sent out an email to see if something ended up in someone else's room (it had happened to a few teahcers already). This morning I saw that one of the other 5th grade teachers has a roller cart in her room that she knows isn't hers; I'm thinking it's most likely mine.

This weekend, I picked up some jungle print fabric to put on our ginormous wall-o-bulletin board. Seriously, this thing is floor-to-ceiling, the length of an entire wall! Our theme this year is Wild About Learning. We had done this theme at my old school, so I really thought I had more stuff to use. Sadly, all I can find is a border. I'll have to go shopping again.

Anyway, it looks like we're off to a great start to the new year! I'm actually excited! It's been a long time since I could say that!